From the Desk of Susan E. Fox

The U. S. Supreme Court Asked to Reject the Government's Claim That it May Conduct the Public's Business in Secret

The U. S. Supreme Court should “reject the government’s claim that it may conduct the public’s business in secret” according to a “friends of the court” (amici curiae) brief submitted by four leading library associations, a national archival association, and five public interest organizations in support of the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, Inc. in the case of Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, et. al., v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The case concerns the request by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch for disclosure of whom, outside of the government, participated in the vice president’s National Energy Policy Development Group. Vice President Cheney has refused to disclose any information about the group.

In 2002, the federal district court granted the motions of the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch to proceed with discovery about the makeup of the task force. The government appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which in July 2003 refused to overturn the lower court's order. The government then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, which it agreed to do in December 2003.

The amici joining in this brief share the conviction that broad access to government records protects values essential to representative democracy and promotes public participation in public policy. They hold that “public participation in government can be meaningful only if the people know what officials are doing, and how they are doing it. Equally, without that information the people can’t hold public officials accountable for their actions.”

The amici are the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for American Progress, Common Cause, the National Security Archive, People for the American Way Foundation, the Society of American Archivists, and the Special Libraries Association.

The Law Library of Congress has awarded a five-year contract to develop and implement major enhancements to the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). The improvements are necessary to respond to the challenges of globalization and an increasing demand for online legal research resources. Initial designs for the upgraded GLIN system are expected to be unveiled this August. “This major system re-design will keep in step with 21st Century expectations for GLIN performance,” said Dr. Rubens Medina, the Law Librarian of Congress and Chairman of the GLIN Executive Council.

The Guide was designed with the purpose of fostering good business practices on the part of publishers by encouraging five basic principles.

The third of these, fair dealing, states that “Publishers should engage in fair dealing with their customers.” There are six elements to this principle:

For more information about Principle 3, read your paper copy or the online version of the Guide.

Isn’t it reassuring to know that for more than 10 years there has been an AALL/Research Instruction and Patron Services-SIS project that has remained relevant and responsive to the needs of legal research instructors? This year is no exception. The 2004 Teach-In campaign is under way and sailing into “The Second Decade.”

The 12th National Legal Research Teach-In, organized by the RIPS-SIS, offers the opportunity to improve the skills of your patrons and showcase your skills as a teacher and information provider. Following the pattern of the past decade of great success, Teach-In 2004 is scheduled in conjunction with National Library Week (April 18-24). As in previous years, the Teach-In Committee has worked with West and LexisNexis to prepare unique instructional and promotional materials. Thanks to generous donations from the two companies, materials will again be available at no charge. It is a true measure of their commitment to the law library community that both West and LexisNexis continue to underwrite this activity, as they have since its inception 12 years ago.

Our spiral bound Training Resource Kits topped the bestseller list last year! West distributed approximately 750 kits to law librarians all over the country. The 2004 Teach-In resource kit tackles emerging topics for legal research instruction, integrating traditional legal resources and the newest electronic sources in one convenient package. The kits are designed to provide that extra assistance to get an instructional program off the ground. They may include pathfinders, research guides, lesson plans, lecture notes, research exercises—a myriad of instructional materials developed by law librarians for use by law librarians. One kit per institution is available free of charge from West. Contact West Marketing Support by fax at 800/854-1597 or by e-mail by March 31. Be sure to provide your name, address, institution, telephone number, and, if available, your West account number.

A big hit from past years is back by popular demand! Each year more than 20,000 notepads are sent out to locations around the United States. These colorful pads, designed with Teach-In committee assistance and produced by LexisNexis, can help you promote your 2004 Teach-In activities. They can be used by library staff or given away to patrons as an incentive to participate in your library events. Hopefully you have placed your order by now because this year’s supply is already in the shipping phase. Notepads will be mailed the week of March 22.

Now is the time to make the commitment that your library will conduct some sort of event involving legal research during National Library Week 2004. With the vast amount of materials available to you, it is easy to plan an educational event. If you need more ideas, descriptions of Teach-In kits from previous years can be found on the RIPS-SIS Web page. Past years’ kits can be obtained through AALL Headquarters at 312/939-4764.

Questions or comments about the 2004 Legal Research Teach-In should be directed to the coordinators of the event, Gail A. Partin, associate law librarian, Dickinson School of Law, Penn State University, 717/240-5294; or Karen Brunner, library manager, Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland and Perretti, 973/538-0800.